Exhale

Purple Heart Day

On August 7, 1782, in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington announced the creation of the Badge for Military Merit, a decoration consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk with the word “Merit” embroidered in silver. The badge would be presented to soldiers for “any singularly meritorious action” and anyone wearing it could pass guarded checkpoints unchallenged. Each recipient’s name was entered into the “Book of Merit,” along with the regiment in which he served.

“The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding. Not only instances of unusual gallantry, but also of extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way shall meet with a due reward. Before this favour can be conferred on any man, the particular fact, or facts, on which it is to be grounded must be set forth to the Commander in chief accompanied with certificates from the Commanding officers of the regiment and brigade to which the Candadate [sic] for reward belonged, or other incontestable proofs, and upon granting it, the name and regiment of the person with the action so certified are to be enrolled in the book of merit which will be kept at the orderly office. Men who have merited this last distinction to be suffered to pass all guards and sentinals [sic] which officers are permitted to do. The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all. This order is also to have retrospect to the earliest stages of the war, and to be considered as a permanent one.”

–Wikipedia

The Order of the Purple Heart

Elijah Churchill, William Brown and Daniel Bissell, Jr., are the only three known soldiers to receive the original Purple Heart during the Revolutionary War. The Book of Merit was lost, and the Purple Heart faded into obscurity until General Charles P. Summerall, then Army chief of staff, petitioned Congress in 1927 to “revive the Badge of Military Merit.” In 1931, General Douglas MacArthur, Summerall’s successor, took the initiative to reinstate the award in time for Washington’s 200th birthday. MacArthur was timely and successful, and the War Department announced the creation of the “Order of the Purple Heart” on February 22, 1932.

The reimagined Purple Heart featured, as it does today, Washington’s portrait and coat of arms. The Order of the Purple Heart, the oldest American military decoration for merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. military who have given their lives or been wounded in action against an enemy suffered abuse at the hands of an enemy as prisoners of war.

Veterans and Lung Disease

Many Purple Heart recipients have served in adverse conditions and been exposed to hazardous substances such as asbestos, agent orange, and burn pit smoke. Along with smoking tobacco, breathing in hazardous substances for extended periods of time can lead to scarring of the lungs and a subsequent degenerative lung condition.

Take Action to Treat Lung Disease

Using the healing properties of adult stem cells, the Lung Institute can help promote the healing of lungs damaged by disease. Stem cells are harvested from the patient’s own blood or bone marrow, and returned to the patient where they can begin to promote healing. Adult stem cells live in blood and bone marrow tissue. They naturally respond to injury or illness. However, since stem cells don’t act quickly enough on their own, autologous stem cell therapy is used to expedite this natural healing process.

The Lung Institute has performed over 1,000 treatments since our inception two years ago and offers solutions for those struggling to breathe because of lung disease. If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with lung disease and would like to learn more about treatment options, contact the Lung Institute at (800) 729-3065.

* All treatments performed at Lung Institute utilize autologous stem cells, meaning those derived from a patient's own body. No fetal or embryonic stem cells are utilized in Lung Institute's procedures. Lung Institute aims to improve patients' quality of life and help them breathe easier through the use of autologous stem cell therapy. To learn more about how stem cells work for lung disease, click here.

All claims made regarding the efficacy of Lung Institute's treatments as they pertain to pulmonary conditions are based solely on anecdotal support collected by Lung Institute. Individual conditions, treatment and outcomes may vary and are not necessarily indicative of future results. Testimonial participation is voluntary. Lung Institute does not pay for or script patient testimonials.

Under current FDA guidelines and regulations 1271.10 and 1271.15, the Lung Institute complies with all necessary requirements for operation. The Lung Institute is firmly in accordance with the conditions set by the FDA for exemption status and conducts itself in full accordance with current guidelines. Any individual who accesses Lung Institute's website for information is encouraged to speak with his or her primary physician for treatment suggestions and conclusive evidence. All information on this site should be used for educational and informational use only.

As required by Texas state law, the Lung Institute Dallas Clinic has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from MaGil IRB, now Chesapeake IRB, which is fully accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP), for research protocols and stem cell procedures. The Lung Institute has implemented these IRB approved standards at all of its clinics nationwide. Approval indicates that we follow rigorous standards for ethics, quality, and protections for human research.

Privacy & Security Practices

The Lung Institute takes patient privacy seriously. The law requires that our healthcare facilities and medical personnel protect the privacy of your medical record and other health information We are also required to notify you of our privacy practices with regard to your Protected Health Information. This Privacy & Security Notice explains how your medical information is protected under HIPAA and HITECH laws and how your information may be used, disclosed, and accessed.

Internet Privacy Disclosure

The Information We Collect: The Lung Institute collects information by various methods including information actively provided by its lead providers, customers and information arising from customer surveys and general feedback.
The types of personal information we collect include name, contact information, identification information, credit information and other data types as appropriate. Contact information may be added to database for customer outreach and contact. Credit card information is used for billing purposes only. We may record calls to or from our patient care coordinators/customer service representatives for purposes of accuracy, performance reviews, training and general quality assurance.

How We Use This Information: This information is used to aid in the provision of our various products and services, including customer service, accounting, billing, collections and the marketing of other products services.
The Lung Institute may use aggregate or anonymous information for various uses for itself and third parties.

Who We Share This Information With: The Lung Institute does not share personal information with any third parties except as disclosed in this policy. The Lung Institute may provide personal information to the Lung Institute’s subcontractors and professional advisers (which shall be bound by privacy obligations) to assist the Lung Institute’s uses disclosed herein.

Security: Personal information is stored in a combination of paper and electronic files. They are protected by security measures appropriate to the nature of the information.

Accessing Information: Individuals may review their personal information contained in the Lung Institute’s files by contacting the Lung Institute’s privacy officer. If an individual believes that any of their personal information is inaccurate, we will make appropriate corrections.

Cookies: Cookies are used by the Lung Institute for the convenience of our users. Cookies automatically authenticate the user. A user can access the Lung Institute’s website with the cookie feature turned off. However, in doing so they may find themselves challenged for username and password information on multiple occasions. The Lung Institute also uses cookies to track user’s visits and uses that information to improve the user’s experience.

This cookie does not in any way identify you or give us access to your computer. In addition to using cookies as described above, we also may permit certain third party companies like Google Analytics to help us tailor advertising that we think may be of interest to users and to collect and use other data about user activities on our Sites and/or Services (e.g., to allow them to tailor ads on third party services). These companies may deliver ads that might also place cookies and otherwise track user behavior. You may choose to opt out of cookies by clicking here.

Links: The Lung Institute’s website may contain links to information at other websites. When you click on one of these links, you are moving to another website. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of these linked sites as their privacy policy may differ from ours.

Social Media: Lung Institute has multiple social media pages including: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. Lung Institute social media pages are managed by Lung Institute staff members who post news and other items of interest to be consumed by the public. If you have a social media account, you can log in to your account to post comments, and 'like' or ‘follow’ Lung Institute social media pages and individual entries. If once you click on a lung Institute social media page, you comment or click on the 'like' button, your Protected Identifiable Information (PII) will be visible to Lung Institute staff and other social media site visitors. The amount of visible personal information displayed will depend on your own Social Media privacy settings. You can completely avoid displaying any PII by not creating a Social Media account, not posting comments, not clicking on the 'like' or ‘follow’ options, or interacting with Lung Institute Social Media accounts in any way (i.e., private messaging, sharing Lung Institute posts, etc.). Lung Institute staff does not collect, use or disclose any information about visitors who comment, 'like' or ‘follow’ the Lung Institute Social Media sites. However, as a practice, comment moderator policy requires the removal from Lung Institute Social Media pages of any comments that contain spam or are improper, inflammatory, or offensive. The information is then saved on a password-protected shared drive accessible to Lung Institute Managers, System Owners, Communications Staff, Web Teams, and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties.

General: The Lung Institute may amend this policy from time to time. If such amendments affect how the Lung Institute uses or discloses personal information already held by the Lung Institute in a material way, the Lung Institute will obtain consent.
Notwithstanding the general terms of this policy, the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information may be made outside of the terms herein to the extent provided for in any applicable privacy or other legislation in effect from time to time.
The Lung Institute may disclose personal information to another entity purchasing (including for diligence purposes prior to purchase) the assets of the Lung Institute, provided that entity abides by this or a similar privacy policy.